Homemade is Better: Barbecue Chicken and Grape Salad Sandwiches

Tonight we tried one of the new recipes inspired by the featured sale items from Fresh & Easy Groceries posted earlier this week. The recipe, Barbecue Chicken and Grape Salad, comes from myrecipes.com and I'm not quite sure why readers gave it a five star rating. It was pretty good but not excellent. Fun to make though and we served it on croissants which in and of themselves were delicious. The salad was a little on the sweet side for Don and I. We tend to veer toward the spicy and savory so if you like sweet meats, this may be a little more to your liking. I do give it a thumbs up on texture though. A lot of great textures from the fleshy grapes to the crunchy celery and walnuts to the chewy croissant. I did not enjoy the red onions. If I were to make this again, I would leave them out.

Barbecue Chicken and Grape Salad


Drawing from elements of a classic Waldorf salad, this recipe uses grapes instead of apples. The spice rub gives the chicken a barbecue flavor. Rinsing the onions takes away some of their bite.


1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup seedless green grapes, halved
3/4 cup seedless red grapes, halved
2/3 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine onion powder, paprika, chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; sprinkle over chicken.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, and sauté 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Wrap handle of skillet in foil; bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; refrigerate until chilled. Chop into bite-sized pieces.

Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, green grapes, and next 6 ingredients (green grapes through orange juice) in a large bowl. Add chopped chicken, and toss to coat. Sprinkle salad with walnuts.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups)

CALORIES 266 (29% from fat); FAT 8.5g (sat 1.1g,mono 2.5g,poly 4.1g); IRON 1.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 40mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19.1g; SODIUM 676mg; PROTEIN 29.1g; FIBER 2g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2002